Numerous U.S. Patents have been issued for game board devices having a patterned board and movable pieces. See, eg., U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,927 granted Feb. 4, 1975 and patents referred to therein.
One of the oldest games of the type is Backgammon, a game played with two persons. In that traditional game, each player is assigned fifteen pieces of different color (usually red and white). The game board, usually squarish, has twelve positions at opposite sides, or a total of twenty-four positions.
In the traditional Backgammon game, the board is considered to be divided into four quadrants or "tables", comprising two tables per side, each containing six positions. These positions are typically triangular in shape and are called "points." White sits on one side and his "home" table is at his right and his "outside" table to his left. Red, sitting opposite, also has "home" and "outside" tables similarly positioned.
At the outset, each player has eight pieces on his home side (arranged with five pieces at point 6 and three pieces at point 8), and seven pieces on the opposite side (arranged with two pieces at the opponent's point 1 and five pieces at the opponent's point 12).
Pieces are moved, alternately by each player, according to the roll of dice, in opposite directions around the board. The pieces at the far side of the board from each player are moved laterally around the side of the board and laterally in front of the player through his outside table to his home table. Upon reaching the home table the pieces are removed from the board, a process referred to as "bearing off". More specifically, pieces may be borne off if their position on the home table coincides with the number on one of the dice thrown, eg., if one die is a 5, he may bear off one of his pieces at point 5 on his home table.
In the traditional game, there are numerous other rules and facets of play which are well known to those familiar with the game.